Injuries give Jaguars, Colts pause

The AFC South rivals are without key players, but they don't make excuses.

MICHAEL C. WRIGHT

Both sides harbor injury concerns, yet neither offers an excuse.

That's the near mirror-image look of the Indianapolis Colts (1-1) and the Jaguars (0-2) heading into an important AFC South matchup Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. By virtue of experience, however, it appears the Colts might be better equipped to persevere.

"They had offensive linemen banged up, and so have we. I think both coaches would be the same in terms of injuries are what they are, and you can't use them as excuses," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "You expect your other guys to fill in, and that's what we're trying to do is get those guys to play as a cohesive unit even though they haven't played together as much as we like."

Sounds pretty similar to what Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio is saying these days.

As of Wednesday night, both teams had placed 20 total players - eight Jaguars and 12 Colts - on their respective injury reports. Indianapolis expects to play without safety Bob Sanders, the NFL's reigning Defensive Player of the Year, and starting offensive tackle Tony Ugoh.

With Sanders out of the lineup the past five years, teams averaged 5 yards per rushing attempt (142.8 yards per game) against the Colts. With Sanders on the field, Indianapolis holds opponents to a 120.4-yard average and 4.3 yards per carry.

"It doesn't matter at all," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "The thing is with our team, it's just like last year [when] I went down - another guy steps up. That's always how it's been around here. We have the mentality [that] everybody has to be ready."

But look no further than the Colts' 2006 Super Bowl campaign for even more evidence of the safety's impact. Sanders missed 12 regular-season games that year as Indianapolis' rush defense dropped to last in the league, yielding 173 yards per game and 5.3 yards per attempt.

Once Sanders returned for the playoffs, opponents' rush totals dipped to 82.8 yards per game. Throughout his five-year career, Sanders has missed 25 games, which gives the Colts plenty of experience in planning for life without him.

"He's one of their top players," Del Rio said. "If the [injury] reports are true, I'm sure Tony's approach will be very similar to the way we approach things. They'll plug in, the next guy will get an opportunity and they continue to expect to play well."

The Colts expect to replace Sanders with Melvin Bullitt, who will make his debut as an NFL starter. For Ugoh, the team will plug in Charlie Johnson, who started the last two games at left guard.

Indianapolis' injury situation goes even deeper.

It appears that quarterback Peyton Manning and wide receiver Marvin Harrison haven't fully recovered from their injuries, although both haven't missed any time this season. Starting center Jeff Saturday - although he's expected to return Sunday - hasn't played since suffering a knee injury in the preseason. Tight end Dallas Clark, who's also set for a Sunday return, sustained a knee injury in the season opener and missed last week's game.

"It's been a struggle for us," Dungy said of his team's injuries. "But we'll continue to work and hopefully get healthier. Until we get healthier, [we'll have to] start playing a little better."